4 CONVERSATIONAL HINTS 



mentary remark about it, and each of you will 

 think the other a devilish knowing and agreeable 

 fellow. 



From this point you can diverge into a dis- 

 cussion of the latest improvements, as, e.g., ' Are 

 ejectors really valuable ? ' This is sure to bring out 

 the man who has tried ejectors, and has given them 

 up, because last year, at one of the hottest corners 

 he ever knew, when the sky w r as simply black with 

 pheasants, the ejectors of both his guns got stuck. 

 He will talk of this incident as another man might 

 talk of the loss of a -friend or a fortune. Here you 

 may say < By gad, what frightful luck ! What 

 did you do?' He will then narrate his corn- 

 minatory interview with his gun-maker ; others 

 will burst in, and defend ejectors, or praise their 

 own gun-makers, and the ball, once set rolling, will 

 not be stopped until you take your places for the 

 first beat of the afternoon, just as Markham is 

 telling you that his old governor never shoots with 

 anything but an old muzzle-loader by Manton, and 

 makes deuced good practice with it too. 



6 Choke ' is not a very good topic ; it doesn't last 

 long. After you have asked your neighbour if his 

 gun is choked, and told him that your left barrel 



